Olympic Silver Medalist Giorgia Villa Goes Viral for Cheese Photos Amid Parmesan Deal

Joseph Zucker@@JosephZuckerFeatured Columnist IVJuly 31, 2024

LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images

Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa already has a silver medal to take home from her trip to the 2024 Summer Olympics. But the 21-year-old was already one of the biggest winners before she set foot in Paris.

That’s because Villa was once a brand ambassador for Parmigiano Reggiano, the consortium that produces Parmesan cheese from the source. Intrepid social media users made the discovery Wednesday.

furiosarah @slothanovaI need the people to know that olympic silver medalist giorgia villa is sponsored by parmesan cheese and regularly posts pics of herself with giant wheels of cheese pic.twitter.com/7gVyuGMoy5

Women Posting W’s @womenpostingwsOlympic silver medalist and Italian gymnast Giorgia Villa is sponsored by parmesan cheese and takes many of her photos while posing with large wheels of cheese pic.twitter.com/klx8PEuFPN

Villa is a two-time medalist in the European Women’s Gymnastics Championships and helped Italy win Bronze in the 2019 World Championships. She was on track to participate in the Tokyo Games before an ankle injury left her unable to compete.

The wait proved to be worth. Villa did her part in the team final, posting a score of 13.766 in the uneven bars, as Italy finished second behind the United States. She’ll represent her country in four more events.